Bottle Shock

Aroview: Lightly farcical take on the true story of how American viticulture pioneer Jim Barrett broke the French domination of premium wine market (esp. Chardonnay) in the mid 1970's, through his enduring business struggle, and against establishment snobbery, personified with relish here by British prig, Alan Rickman.

While an inspiring true story on paper, the film has been cultivated with the subtlety of a hamburger, full of over-ripe sentiment, strained humour, and stock characters that fail to win our empathy. Where it should have hit the French right where it hurts, it is them, in the film-making stakes at least, that get the last laugh. While some have actually preferred this to the sardonic sensibility of fellow wine-comedy SIDEWAYS, this is by contrast, one straight out of the cask.